Lorentz National Park

• Mining
• Human resources (Security limitations)
• Ground transport infrastructure (Development threats)
• Fishing/collecting aquatic resources (Exploitation of marine resources)
• Management systems/management plans (Absence of a co-ordinating agency, Absence of a finalized strategic management plan, Park boundaries not physically demarcated)
• Financial resources (Inadequate financing)
• Other climate change impacts (Nothofagus dieback)
• Illegal activities

On 6 March 2020, the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property, which is available at http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/955/documents and reports the following:

• Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) patrols are continuing in the lowland areas of the property. During the reporting period, an additional SMART training activity was held through a project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID);
• A mitigation action plan for the Habema-Kenyam road has been prepared and its implementation started in 2017, but it has now been halted due to security concerns in the area;
• Monitoring of Nothofagus dieback along the Habema-Kenyam road in 2019 found no correlation between fungal disease prevalence and distance to the road, but further analyses are being conducted on additional parameters. Furthermore, the surveys showed that attacks from woodboring beetles may have contributed to the death of infected Nothofagus trees, and some were lost due to forest fires during the dry season;
• A description of the eight management zones according to the new zonation scheme was presented along with a submission of the 2018 zonation document in Indonesian. The so-called ‘core zone’ of the National Park accounts for 35% of the property and is described as carrying the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, while the ‘wilderness zone’ (36%) surrounds this ‘core zone’ and protects it from external threats located in the other zones;
• 190 km of the trans-Papua road cross the property and have been integrated in the ‘special zone’ (1.9%). The area along the trans-Papua road, including the Wamena-Habema-Kenyam section, has been included in the ‘rehabilitation zone’ (0.5%), along with other damaged areas due to illegal logging and cultivation as well as Nothofagus dieback, all of which are considered having a significant impact on the OUV of the property;
• The IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission could not be invited due to regional and national elections, which were followed by security issues on the island.

On 18 December 2018, the World Heritage Centre sent a letter to the State Party to request clarification on a proposed “Trans-Papuan Highway” in light of potential threats to the OUV of the property, and especially its integrity. While some information on the trans-Papua road is provided in its report, a response by the State Party still remains pending at the time of writing of this report.

It is regrettable that the State Party could not invite the IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property, which has been pending since 2017.

The same security challenges on the island have also interrupted the implementation of mitigation measures for the Habema-Kenyam road, which is deeply concerning. Recalling that the road was constructed and opened for public use despite the Committee’s concerns for its potential significant impact on the OUV of the property, the implementation of appropriate mitigation measures is crucial to protect the property’s fragile alpine ecosystem. Details of the mitigation measures that have been implemented and are planned should be submitted to the World Heritage Centre, and their implementation resumed as soon as the security situation allows. It should also be recalled that the Committee previously requested the State Party to review the effectiveness of the Environmental Management Plan for the road in avoiding and mitigating impacts on the OUV (Decision 41 COM 7B.29), as it was unclear how the impacts were being managed.

It is also of concern that the State Party report is now indicating that Habema-Kenyam road is part of the “Trans-Papuan Highway”. It is regrettable that the State Party has not yet provided any further clarification on this project, as requested by the World Heritage Centre in December 2018, and it is of the utmost concern that 190km of the road across the property already been completed. It is recommended that the Committee request the State Party to submit details of the project.

In this regard, the mission is urgently required in order to assess the potential impacts of the road developments in the property and determine whether the current mitigation measures are adequate for protecting the property’s OUV.

The zonation within the property is concerning, since it allows for activities to occur that may potentially impact the OUV of the property and which should not be permitted. Specifically, the permitted activities in the special use zone raise the most concern as they cover a wide range of possible activities, including roads, cultivation and airport construction. These activities should be encouraged outside of the property boundaries, as they are likely to negatively impact on the OUV. Furthermore, the description that the ‘wilderness zone’ would act as a buffer between the so-called ‘core zone’ and other zones within the property does not align with the need to ensure the protection of the OUV within the entire property boundary. A buffer zone should surround the whole property to ensure that the entire property is protected from threats that originate from outside the property boundaries. The ‘utilization zone’ has now been reduced to 0.4% of the property, mainly for tourism-focused development, but any development proposal will require an impact assessment in relation to the OUV, carried out in line with the IUCN World Heritage Advice Note on Environmental Assessment. Such assessments should be submitted to the World Heritage Centre, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, before any decision is made that would be difficult to reverse.

The continuation of the SMART patrols and the preliminary results of the Nothofagus tree survey are appreciated. It is recommended that the State Party be requested to continue the patrols and submit the full findings of the Nothofagus survey to the World Heritage Centre for review by IUCN when it becomes available. Noting that forest fires are also a cause of Nothofagus loss, it is important that fire management, including climate change-related aspects, be captured in the Management Plan for the property.